ABC News (AU)
· collected 2026-10-08 · by Stephanie Dalzell and Paige Cockburn
New figures show that an average of 17 older Australians died each day last year while waiting for home care, resulting in over 6,400 deaths, which is a 34% increase from the previous year. Critics have accused the federal government of attempting to hide these statistics, and advocates describe the situation as an "absolute tragedy." Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston claims that the government's failure to comply with Senate orders for producing these figures highlights its lack of transparency regarding the aging care crisis.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.50, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 2 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
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Leaning score withheld for article 64855: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-08
An average of 17 older Australians died every day waiting for home care last year, new figures reveal
In short:
More than 6,400 older Australians died while waiting to receive home care last year, an increase of more than a third on the previous year.
asserted
Australians → die → year
Advocates have described the figures as an "absolute tragedy".
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Advocates → describe → tragedy
The federal government has been accused by political opponents of trying to hide the figures.
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government → accuse → figures
An average of 17 older Australians died while waiting to receive necessary home care each day last year, according to the latest official figures — an increase of more than a third on the previous year.
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average → die → year
New data published by the health department revealed 6,436 older Australians approved for Support at Home, but in the queue for funding, died in 2025-26.
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Australians → publish → 2025
The figure is an almost 34 per cent increase from the 4,812 people who died while waiting under the former National Priority System for home care packages in the previous year.
However, the figures are not directly comparable, because of the transition from the older system to the current one.
"Everybody on the wait list is a person; they're not a statistic or a number,"Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston said.
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Ruston → die → list
The Opposition said the data emerged after the federal government failed to comply with two Senate orders to produce the figures.
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government → say → figures
"Rather than fixing the system, Labor has put its energy into avoiding scrutiny.
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Labor → fix → scrutiny
And it is older Australians and their families who are paying the price," she said.
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she → pay → price
"The extent to which the government tried to hide this information from the public is appalling.
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government → try → public
The prime minister and his ministers clearly just didn't want older Australians and their families to know the truth."
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Australians → want → truth
CEO of the Council on the Ageing Australia, Patricia Sparrow, described the figures as "an absolute tragedy", which demonstrated just how badly the system was keeping up with demand.
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system → describe → demand
"This shouldn't be happening …
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This → happen → ?
there aren't enough packages in the system [and] we need to make sure people can get the package they need within about 30 days of being assessed," she said.
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she → be → days
Ms Sparrow said when people did not get support at home for basic needs like showering or eating they could end up in hospital or be forced to move into residential aged care sooner.
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they → say → care
"We need to make sure older people are respected … they don't put their hand up for assistance until they really need it," she said.
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she → need → it
The waitlist, known as the Support At Home priority system, determines how older people are prioritised for funding, and also includes people who are already receiving funding for a lower level of care, and are waiting for a higher level to be allocated.
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level → know → care
In August, Four Corners revealed the true number of people waiting for full aged care funding at home was almost 154,000.
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number → reveal → home
In May, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese conceded the state of aged care in Australia was "not good enough", after a report revealed patients were waiting an average of a year for services.
uncertain
patients → concede → services
The federal government was also accused of burying that report by its political opponents, quietly dropping it during budget-lock up.
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government → accuse → up
Last year, a Senate inquiry into aged care services heard from the families of people who died while waiting for support, including one Hobart man with Parkinson's and cancer who waited over 12 months for a home care package.
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who → hear → package
His package was approved three days before his death.
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package → approve → death
Independent Senator David Pocock said the data was "shocking but sadly not surprising".
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data → say → ?
"The Senate has been pushing the government hard for years to improve the care we're providing to older Australians.
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we → push → Australians
Time and again the aged care minister has dismissed and deflected and ultimately failed these older Australians and their families.
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minister → dismiss → Australians
It is unacceptable," he said.
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he → say → ?
"I am also dismayed that this data is released quietly and in a way that is hard to find.
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that → release → way
Even though it tells a grim story, older Australians and their family still deserve transparency from the government on the state of affairs."
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Australians → tell → affairs
Aged Care Minister Sam Rae said the rate of people who died waiting for Support at Home was "significantly lower than the rate of death for older Australians in the broader population".
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who → say → population
"Every single death of someone who is waiting for care is a tragedy.
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who → wait → care
My thoughts and condolences are with every family who has lost a loved one," he said.
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he → lose → one
Mr Rae said while there was "more work to do" the government had delivered an additional 83,000 home care places in 2025-26, with a further 32,000 rolling out this year.
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32,000 → say → 2025
The Aporia